Homeless Prevention Officer Children's Services

London Borough of Bexley; London; On-site; GBP 30,000 - 40,000; Full time

Job summary

A local government authority in London seeks a dedicated professional to support young adults leaving care. This role involves assisting with tenancy management, ensuring housing stability, and working collaboratively with various services. Successful candidates will have experience with housing legislation and be skilled in supporting young people towards independent living. Competitive salary and benefits package offered.

Benefits

Competitive salary

Excellent pension scheme

Generous annual leave

Qualifications

• Understanding of housing legislation and statutory guidance.
• Experience in supporting young people with housing and independence skills.
• Ability to maintain accurate records and data reports.

Responsibilities

• Support young adults with tenancy management and rights.
• Hold regular housing advice drop-in sessions.
• Engage with housing providers to seek housing options.

Skills

Housing legislation understanding

Experience with young people

Tenancy management knowledge

Data protection awareness

Job description

• To work with Bexley's Leaving Care Service and its partners to provide additional support to young adults leaving our care to improve housing and accommodation outcomes, promote housing stability, and reduce homelessness. To help further develop joint working arrangements between the Leaving Care Service, Bexley Housing services, multi-agency partners, and other supported housing providers. The purpose of this role is to help vulnerable young people who have experienced past abuse and neglect, often experiencing the effects of trauma, be able to develop their life skills, find and sustain suitable housing, and be supported to achieving their life goals. Please refer to the Job Description attached for more information.
  
  

This is a fixed term contract until March 2026

For an informal discussion about the role please contact Claire Hannabuss, Service Manager, Leaving Care, 02030455997 or e mail [e-mail]

Candidate Profile

Core Tasks:

• Support young adults leaving our care to gain knowledge around tenancy management and their rights and responsibilities as a tenant by delivering tenancy ready courses to individual young people or in a group setting
• Hold regular housing advice drop-in for personal advisors and social workers
• To maintain accurate records and oversee required data reports that allows oversight of young people preparing for independent living, their housing requirements, their housing or tenancy application status, types of tenancies and accommodation, and those at risk of housing breakdown or eviction
• To have a good understanding of housing legislation and statutory guidance
• To have experience supporting young people and young adults with housing, homelessness, and independence skills
• To assist allocated personal advisors and young people/adults with the expectations, readiness, and process relating to housing applications, private rented accommodation search, tenancy agreements, and rent guarantor schemes
• Work with young people, their allocated social workers and personal advisors who have been referred for housing support due to homelessness
• Work with young people to prevent future housing issues or eviction and prepare them to manage and make a success of their tenancies
• Engage with housing providers and landlords to explore and seek local housing options for young adults leaving our care
• Keep up to date records of interventions and support provided
• Work in partnership with young people, young adults, their families, their carers, other agencies who provide them with support
• An understanding of Data Protection legislation and guidance and the need to seek consent from young adults when working with other professionals or housing providers
• To identify any barriers to good housing options, support, and stability for young adults leaving our care and share these with line managers along with suggestions for how to overcome these and improve our housing options, support, and ways of working together
  
  

For the full list of essential and desirable criteria for this role then please refer to the Person Specification within the Job Description attached.

Appointment to this post will be subject to the outcome of an Enhanced Disclosure obtained through the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS).

Bexley is a vibrant and diverse outer London Borough nestled in the Thames Gateway between London and Kent which means it combines the perfect blend of city vibe and the tranquillity of Kent. It's got award-winning parks, open spaces, and heritage sites. The borough has excellent transport connections, including the Elizabeth Line and proximity to the M25. Bexley offers fantastic amenities such as libraries, leisure centres, and shopping areas. Our borough is also home to numerous primary and secondary schools, as well as further education institutions.

Our Offer to you

We will offer you in return a package that includes a competitive salary, an excellent pension scheme and generous annual leave plus bank holidays. For more information on the benefits package on offer please refer to the Candidate Information document attached.

Recruitment Information

As a disability confident employer Bexley welcomes applications from people with all disabilities, including hidden disabilities and mental health conditions. We will interview any disabled applicant who meets the minimum criteria. If you require reasonable adjustments to be made to any part of the recruitment process due to your disability, please contact us on [e-mail]

This authority is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.

This role may be available as a development opportunity through secondment for the Council’s existing employees. The Council’s Secondment Scheme can be found here. If this option is of interest, please contact the recruiting manager.

We reserve the right to close adverts earlier than the closing date.